Burnswick Fort, believed incorrectly by some as a potential site for Caer Rydderch, sits upon Burnswark (Birrenswark) Hill which covers 7 hectacres and rises 1000 feet from the Solway plane between Lockerbie and Ecclefechan in Dumfrieshire. Placed 7 miles north and west of Birrens Hill where the groundworks of the fort that gave us our name can be found. Burnswark hillfort itself, is a fortification that sat high on Burnswark Hill, on the Scottish side of it’s border with England.
The fort of Burnswick is well placed as it dominates the area with views over many miles and has been shown through archaeological digs since 1985 to be from the late iron age. Further evidence also shows the sites of two huge Roman camps capable of housing at least 6000 soldiers placed north and south of the fort itself.
But why?
The Roman occupation of Scotland began in AD 71, many hundreds of years after the fort itself was originally built and its role in the Roman occupation has remained a source of discussion by archaeologists for at least 300 years with three main theories bubbling to the surface.
Theories
Theory one, is based on the evidence of the sling shot, arrows and artillery missiles that have been found on the site where it was originally thought that the fort had simply been used as a target in military training. However, there is now a hypothesis, covering theory two i.e. occupation by a local Selgovae Celtic tribe who opposed the Roman invasion, who were sieged to starve them out. But again, and leading to theory three, it is suggested that in fact a large bloody battle took place where the fort was assaulted during the Antonine conquest of the area with troops from Hadrians wall attacking the fort somewhere around 139-140AD.
This supports what history tells us regarding the Romans intended target to take the southern Caledonia north of the Wall. It was however, inhabited by the uncivilised ‘barbarian tribes’. The push by Hadrians successor Antonius Pius, was to conquer and subjugate from Hadrians wall in the south up as far as the Forth – Clyde divide. The task was given to the Berber Governor of Britannia, Quintus Lollius Urbicus. Urbicus was specially brought in from his campaigns in the Jewish wars, where he was known for his hard approach and given the job of carrying out the Emperor’s campaign to retake the Scottish Lowlands and bring it under Roman control. Part of this process was the alleged attack on the tribes inhabiting the stronghold of Burnswark.
This theory is further supported by the amount of lead sling shot used, which was more indicative of a roman assault rather than a training exercise. Many of the lead shots had holes in them, which were used in battle as not only a form of physical warfare but with a psychological component attached. The holes allowed the shots to let out a screeching noise as they flew through the air, thus causing panic and fear amongst the native tribes in the fort.
According to the lead archaeologist covering the site dig during the summers of 2015-2016, who found this type of sling shot “You’d hear this screeching noise that you’ve never heard before or experienced before in your life,” explained Mr Nicholson. “What sort of unearthly spirits are these dreadful Romans conjuring up to assail you with amongst all their missiles? “I hear this keening sound through the air and the chap with the spear next to me drops dead and I wonder what on earth is doing it. I’d be utterly terrified.”
The excavation has led to the third theory to be strongly considered. It was supported based on the skills of the personnel involved and the quantity and type of slingshot used. It suggested a deliberate attack and possibly complete overkill against a weaker, and poorly-armed enemy. The possibility of survivors from this attack, if that was in fact the case, is deemed very poor.
This was possibly one of many battles that took place during the Roman campaign in the Caledonian Lowlands. By 142, the Romans had brought some order to this troubled outpost of the empire and had successfully moved the frontier north to the newly built Antonine Wall.
As previously said, Roman legions would have been sent north of Hadrian’s wall, which eventually brought the area into a fragile surrender, while the rest of Scotland remained outside their grasp. It did allow for the building of the Antonine Wall in 142AD by the Legionaries from Legions II, VI, and XX, running between the river Clyde and the Firth of Forth it contained 16 forts along its length.
Antonines Wall was abandoned in 165AD lasting around 25 years before its final evacuation, with the Romans again pulling back once again to Hadrians Wall which had stood as an active military line for some 300 years. It is felt the area of southern Scotland then became a buffer state or territory, of numerous tribal kingdoms, of Northern ancient Britons, with the much less Romanised Britons, known as the Picts. When Roman Imperial rule over Britain ended in the early fifth century, many of the forts along Hadrian’s Wall continued to be occupied through the fifth and into the sixth centuries AD. The fort commanders did not necessarily leave having made a life for themselves in the area and their soldiers seem to have taken responsibility for local security.
This piece from https://www.trimontium.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Bullets-Ballistas-and-Burnswark-Current-Archaeology.pdf by Dr John H Reid goes into far more detail covering Burnswark. See below.
The area in 410 AD was to become the post Roman kingdom of the Old North, Hen Ogledd, in the Brythonic or Cumbric language and moving forward in time to become the Scottish West March.
NB: Points to consider
It is fair to note that both the hill forts at Burnswark and Caer Rydderch on Birrens Hill existed at least 300-400 years before Rydderch Hael, king of Strathclyde.
Further the warlord Caratacus, who some wrongly claim was the progenitor of our family, lived in the 1st century AD in the south of what is now England.
He was a member of the southern Brythonic tribe of the Catuvellauni who fought and was eventually captured by the Romans and taken to Rome. Having given a moving speeche, he escaped death and Caratacus and his family spent the rest of their days in exile in Italy. Caratacus died in and around 50 AD in Rome and as far as we are aware, his family themselves never returned to the shores of Britannia.
